ARTICLE: Pure Flix and Great American Media Announce Plans to Merge; Deal Calls for Regulatory Approval

[Errol]

Pure Flix, the faith and family streaming platform owned by Sony Pictures Television and Great American Media, home to a growing portfolio of family-friendly media brands, announced an agreement today that sees the two companies merging.

PureFlix will become part of the merged company, with Great American Media contributing two cable networks (Great American Family and Great American Living) and a FAST channel (Great American Adventures). Great American Media will retain a majority interest in the merged company and oversee the independent organization’s day-to-day management.

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Great American Media President and CEO, Bill Abbott, will serve as CEO of the merged entity, reporting to the company’s board of directors. The new company will build on the multi-faceted, multi-channel family and faith media brands in the portfolio. Closing of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

“In a media environment where programming and distribution business models are in a constant state of flux, this agreement provides a rare opportunity to maximize our potential with the expertise, market knowledge and content creation capabilities of a world class partner like Sony Pictures,” said Abbott in a statement.  “This merger will allow us to further our commitment to original, quality content and makes Great American Media and Pure Flix leaders in a large and under-served market.”

Nadia Bjorlin, David A.R. White (“Nothing is Impossible”)
Courteasy of Pure Flix/AFFIRM Entertainment

“Family-friendly entertainment remains an important segment of the industry, and merging these two entities will create the greatest opportunity to achieve more scale for Pure Flix as it continues to build its subscriber base,” said Ravi Ahuja, Chairman of Global Television Studios and Corporate Development for Sony Pictures. “Bill and the Great American Media team have been successfully leading the Great American Family and Great American Living brands, and we believe they have a winning plan to take Pure Flix to even greater heights.”

With Pure Flix and Great American Media sharing the same mission to serve and delight consumers in the family and faith categories, the combing of the two provides an opportunity to reach a larger and broader audience for Great American Media’s linear networks and FAST channel while better utilizing Pure Flix’s SVOD service and vast content library. The two expect that bringing their brands together into one will immediately establish the new company as a leader in their target genres.

Sony Pictures Television acquired Pure Flix in December 2020. The service provides faith and family-friendly movies and TV series to its more than one million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, Great American Media has established itself as a key destination for original Christmas movies, romantic comedies and classic series that celebrate faith, family and country, led by Great American Family which is currently available in more than 50 million homes and is carried by all major cable providers. Great American Family recently closed out First Quarter 2023 as the fastest-growing network on TV for the second consecutive quarter.

Note: The post Pure Flix and Great American Media Announce Plans to Merge; Deal Calls for Regulatory Approval appeared first on the Soap Opera Network website.

Read More

[j swift]

I take no joy in the expanded opportunity for ex-soap actors to star in films promoting the values of anti-vax, anti-Trans, and pro-replacement theorists. 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by j swift